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Roland the Paladin
| upkeep_cost = | req = and at least Spellbook | moves = | melee = * | ranged = | defense = | resist = * | hits = | item_slot_1 = | item_slot_2 = | item_slot_3 = | abilities = Legendary Super Might Prayermaster Healer Magic Immunity Armor Piercing First Strike | random_abilities = 1 (Fighter) }} Roland the Paladin is one of the 35 Hero units featured in Master of Magic. Roland is a Champion. He may randomly appear for hire if a wizard has at least and at least Spellbook, in which case his Hiring Cost is by default. Alternatively, Roland can be summoned using the Summon Champion spell. Roland is the most iconic Hero, combining excellent combat performance with all-around support capabilities. Though he is not the strongest combatant in the game, putting Roland in a large army can result in a force that is very difficult to stop. This starts with a very powerful and very-rapidly-growing Melee Attack strength, which will eventually make him one of the stronger attackers in the game. With both First Strike and Armor Piercing properties, Roland's attack can devastate an enemy unit or even a heavily-armored monster. Roland sadly lacks strong defensive properties against Melee Damage and other basic attacks, making it even more important to utilize that First Strike capability whenever possible. On the other hand, he is entirely immune to most spells, and highly-Resistant to Curses and many Special Attacks. Roland is also a fantastic support-hero for large armies. While Roland is on the battlefield, each friendly unit receives good bonuses to Resistance, helping to thwart enemy spells and Special Attacks. Once the battle is over, Roland will get to work quickly Healing any injured units, so that the entire army can be ready for the next battle in no-time. Units stacked with Roland can feel much safer, and the entire army can advance rapidly in the face of serious opposition. Additionally, Roland has the Legendary ability, which will increase his employer's score and thus allow recruiting larger armies (and a better chance to gain more Heroes, Mercenaries and Magical Items through random events). If this is not enough, Roland also receives an additional Random Ability at game-start, chosen from the "Fighter" category. This has a high chance of improving his deficiencies in defense, or adding extra support properties. Roland may be equipped with the basic fare of Magical Items. He will not be able to cast spells, and thus can focus on gaining various bonuses to increase his attack strength even further, or to concentrate on becoming more survivable through defensive bonuses. Roland's Upkeep Cost is per turn, unless he has randomly acquired the Noble trait. General Description Roland the Paladin embodies an interesting and highly-valuable combination between a religious man and a fierce warrior. Fighting in the name of all that is good and holy, Roland attracts a great deal of divine providence both to himself and to those who fight alongside him. Though he is quite powerful on the battlefield, Roland is also highly valued for his training as a priest - leading others in prayer and tending to wounded soldiers with great diligence. Roland's appearance is quite simple - a young man with brown hair and a well-tended goatee and mustache, wearing a white-colored shirt over shiny chainmail. He carries a large blue shield into battle, and prefers to fight with no helmet - so that his men can see how fearless he truly is. Roland rides a light-grey horse. Initial Properties All data below assumes Roland is at his lowest Experience Level, and without any Magical Items or Random Abilities - After all, any Hero can become devastatingly powerful after gaining several levels and powerful items. Please refer to the tables and chapters below for more information. Attack Properties Roland the Paladin possesses only a Melee Attack. It is initially quite powerful, but will become even more powerful as he gains Experience. The default strength of this attack is , but is immediately increased to thanks to Roland's innate Super Might ability. With a default To Hit chance of , he can be expected to deliver about per attack - a massive amount which will penetrate almost any type of armor! Roland's attack also enjoys two very important and quite devastating properties: Armor Piercing and First Strike. With Armor Piercing, Roland's attacks will temporarily reduce his target's ability to defend itself. The target's score is reduced to 50% of its original value (rounded down!), making it much easier for Roland to inflict damage, even to well-armored targets. As his attack grows stronger, Roland may be able to instantly kill entire enemy units! Furthermore, when Roland makes a voluntary attack against any target, his Melee Damage is delivered first - thanks to the First Strike ability. This means that any enemy killed by Roland's attack do not get the chance to retaliate with their own Melee Damage. Note that First Strike only works when Roland is attacking voluntarily - not when he is Counter Attacking to an enemy assault. Defensive Properties By default, Roland the Paladin has a Defense score of - about average for a low-level Hero. He can block about from any incoming attack. While this can adequately protect against low-tier Normal Units, it may struggle to fend off damage from more serious attacks. On the other hand, Roland possesses a very high initial health score of by default. This is certainly not one of the highest health levels in the game, but it's important to remember that Roland can heal his own wounds very rapidly once combat is over. If he can utilize First Strike properly, and takes care not to attack anything above his own weight, he can literally go from battle to battle unfazed despite his unimpressive and . Note also that Roland is one of the few units that possesses an innate Magic Immunity. This means that only a few types of enemy spells can actually be targeted at Roland (Web, Cracks Call, and dispelling magics) - all other spells will refuse to target Roland altogether. Thus he is completely safe from Curses and all direct-damage spells! Furthermore, with Magic Immunity Roland's score is considered to be whenever he is struck by a - making him virtually immune to such attacks as well! For cases where Roland's Magic Immunity does not apply (such as against Special Attacks and non-targeted spells), Roland possesses a default Resistance score of - though this is immediately raised to thanks to his innate Prayermaster ability. In fact, this ability will quickly improve his Resistance as he gains Experience, quickly making him immune to the vast majority of Curses and Special Attacks that do not trigger his Magic Immunity (see above). Other Properties Roland the Paladin has a basic Hero's Movement Allowance of . This is good for speeding up his movement on the overland map, through plain land tiles like Grassland and Deserts. During battle, Roland may need to use his speed to stay away from stronger enemies, or in order to reach his targets more easily. Roland possesses the Legendary ability. While Roland is under a wizard's employ, that wizard's Fame score is increased by for each of Roland's , including the first level. This helps maintain larger armies (by reducing the total Upkeep Costs for Normal Units and Heroes). It also helps attract other high-tier Heroes and Mercenaries to the wizard's employ, as well as Item Merchants offering their goods. The bonus to is lost if Roland is removed from the payroll (through either dismissal or death), returning the wizard's score to normal. Roland's Prayermaster ability is also very important. Whenever he goes into battle, he will bestow a certain bonus to the score of each and every friendly unit on the battlefield. The bonus equals for each of Roland's . The bonus is also bestowed on Roland' himself, as described above, rapidly making him immune to many types of magical effects not covered by his Magic Immunity. Healing Thanks to his default Healer ability, Roland can provide healing to other units outside of combat. On the overland map, all units stacked with Roland regain a large number of each turn. This is on top of any natural healing the unit would receive without the presence of the Roland or another Healer. The amount regained equals about 20% of the total number of this unit would have when fully healthy (and with all alive). For example, a unit of Barbarian Cavalry has per figure, with a maximum of . Its total Hit Points when fully healthy is therefore . When stacked with Roland, this unit will regain an extra 20% * = each overland turn - on top of the it regains naturally with or without his presence. In other words, any damaged unit stacked with Roland will be restored to full health within no more than 4 turns - and even faster if the stack is inside a town. Without Roland present, a unit on the brink of death could take upwards of 10 or turns to fully heal. The effect is not cumulative. Two Healers in the same stack heal other units at the same rate as one Healer would. Note that Undead units and creatures from the realm do not heal, whether naturally or with Roland's help. Experience The following table illustrates how Roland's various skills and attributes increase as he gains Experience. His innate Super Might and Prayermaster bonuses are already taken into account in the values below. Attributes not appearing on this list do not improve with Experience. Also note that Roland's chosen Random Ability may also increase with Experience, and may adjust any of the attributes listed below! Average Damage Output The following table shows Roland's average output with each of his attacks, based on his current Experience Level. The effects of the Super Might ability have already been taken into account in the values below. You can use the checkboxes to see the effect of some of the Random Abilities that Roland may occasionally possess. Note that this table completely ignores bonuses from Magical Items, if any. Improvement Overview Roland is one of the few Heroes who are already quite dangerous at the start of their careers. He will only become more and more dangerous with each and every Experience Level he gains. First and foremost, Roland's Melee Attack strength will soar very rapidly. It will eventually be the second-strongest innate Melee Attack of any Hero (after Torin). With the effects of First Strike and Armor Piercing taken into account, it is very dangerous. Sadly, without Blademaster it is not overall as effective as it potentially be. This can be rectified with Magical Items, or if Roland picks Blademaster as his Random Ability. Roland's Prayermaster ability is also quite valuable, giving him an extra per . By the time he is at ("Captain"), Roland is already immune to the majority of Curses, and is very hard to affect with most forms of Special Attacks. Remember that he is also Immune to Magic, which means that most Curses cannot even target him to begin with. Also remember that Prayermaster will improve the score of any unit accompanying Roland into battle; by ("Champion") Roland's entire army may be completely immune to a variety of ill effects! Roland's Legendary ability also improves with level. As Roland's level goes up, his employer becomes more , thus attracting more Heroes, Mercenaries and Item Merchants. Also, it reduces Upkeep Costs for Normal Units and Heroes across the empire, allowing you to recruit a larger army or invest in your economy. Ability Overview Legendary * While this Hero is under a Wizard's employ, that Wizard's Fame score is increased by per every the Hero possesses, including the first level. * If the Hero is lost or dismissed, the bonus points are removed. Super Might * This Hero gains to his Melee Attack with each (rounded down), including the first level. Prayermaster * During combat, this Hero bestows a certain bonus to the score of each friendly unit on the battlefield, including him/herself. * The bonus to Resistances is per every this Hero possesses - including the first level. * This bonus only applies during combat, and does not affect the Hero nor any units stacked with him/her while on the overland map. Healer * Damaged allies stacked with this unit will regain an extra number of each turn (on the overland map). * This applies only to units that have natural healing at all. Undead and units from the realm do not heal. * The amount of extra health regained each turn equals 20% of the total amount of the damaged unit would have with all its alive. Magic Immunity * This unit may not be directly targeted by any enemy spells, including Curses and direct-damage spells. * The unit's Defense score is boosted to whenever targeted by a or Breath Attack. * The unit's Resistance score is increased by against Fear Attacks, Gaze Attacks and all Touch Attacks but Poison. Armor Piercing * Whenever this unit attacks an enemy target (whether with a Melee Attack or Ranged Attack) the target's rating is temporarily assumed to be 50% lower than it really is. * This ability makes it easier to cause damage to heavily-armored targets. First Strike * When this unit makes a Melee Attack during its own turn, it delivers its Melee Damage before the target does. * Any enemy killed in the First Strike do not get to deal their own damage to the attacker. * First Strike damage is dealt after Breath Attacks and Thrown Attacks (if any). * First Strike does not work when the unit is Counter Attacking (i.e. when retaliating to an attack by an enemy unit). Random Abilities When a new game is started, the program randomly chooses 1 additional ability for Roland. This is called a Random Ability. The selection is done completely at random (while observing a limit on the strength of certain abilities) from the list below: Whichever Random Ability is picked, it is permanent. Roland will never re-randomize his abilities during the course of a single game. He may, however, pick a different ability in the next game. Roland may not choose the Might ability, as he already has the "Super" version of this ability. He may however choose other abilities that he already has, such as Legendary or Prayermaster. This would upgrade the corresponding ability to its "Super" version, increasing the benefits from that ability by +50%. While this is somewhat desirable, note that it is often better to get a completely new ability than upgrading an existing one. Since Roland is somewhat lacking in defensive properties, he will greatly benefit from either Constitution or Agility. These will raise his or scores respectively, making him more durable against combat damage. Both are highly valuable since Roland's only mode of combat is his Melee Attack. Blademaster is also an extremely-valuable ability. Though Roland has an incredibly-high Melee Attack Strength, upping the bonus with Blademaster will improve his damage output by a massive amount, allowing him to utilize First Strike to completely annihilate enemy units without taking any damage himself. If First Strike is used properly this way, Blademaster is an entirely valid substitute for augmented defensive properties! Other great abilities to consider are Leadership and Armsmaster. Leadership will boost Roland'''s attack strength by a small amount, but more importantly will also boost the attack strength of other units accompanying him - which is great since this Hero is already geared to be used in large army stacks. Armsmaster is another great team-ability, rapidly training any Normal Units in '''Roland's army to make them battle-ready. The Lucky and Noble abilities, while useful, are not too desirable. They don't make this Hero useless by any means, but do not fulfill his potential either. The Charmed ability is probably the worst pick - given that Roland's score will already be extremely high by the time he gains a few Experience Levels, thanks to Prayermaster. Equipment Roland the Paladin has the following item slots: This set-up contributes primarily to Melee combat. This is excellent for Roland, who is essentially a Melee-oriented unit. Recommended Items Roland has a very-rapidly-growing Attack Strength, and is also covered in his score. Unfortunately, as a melee-oriented Hero, he is lacking in and should be equipped with items that cover this deficiency. bonuses are extremely welcome as well, enhancing the gain from that high Attack Strength. Movement Allowance bonuses can come in handy as well, but not at the expense of . Weapon :Due to Roland's lacking score, and his need to engage enemies in close combat, it is often preferable to equip him with a Sword that gives a good bonus. The importance of this bonus is reduced significantly if Roland has picked Agility or Constitution as his Random Ability, but may still be important early in his career. Alternatively, acquiring a good set of armor may also reduce the need for a high- sword. :If is covered, the next most-important ability is definitely . A higher bonus here can massively boost the damage output of his Hero, who already has a very impressive attack strength to boot. By increasing To Hit, and properly utilizing First Strike with each attack, Roland can end up killing an entire enemy unit before it can strike back, thus minimizing damage to himself through offensive action. :Attack Strength bonuses are much less important for Roland, since his attack strength is going to soar quite high on its own. This is why a Sword is usually much more preferable for this Hero than an Axe, even if there is little need for bonuses. :You may safely ignore any weapon that gives extra ("Spell Skill"), as Roland may not utilize that bonus. Armor :Roland has an initial deficiency in , and thus will likely want to wear as heavy an armor as you can acquire for him. Though his is respectable, and can eventually absorb a good amount of damage, it's always better to prevent that damage from coming through in the first place. :Movement Allowance bonuses may be extremely desirable if they can be acquired. Remember that Roland has First Strike, and must attack voluntarily to utilize this ability. Therefore, high movement speed allows him to move in, make an attack, and then back away from the target - all in the same turn. With this method of attack, damage to Roland himself can be greatly minimized or even eliminated! Faster movement also allows him to reach his targets quickly, preventing them from attacking the rest of Roland's army. : bonuses are far less useful for Roland. His Resistance score will rise quite high within only a few Experience Levels, and he is already Immune to the vast majority of spells. Extra may be useful early on in his career, but such items are better transferred to other Heroes as Roland's level improves. Jewelry :Picking the right piece of Jewelry for Roland can be very tricky, and depends greatly on which Random Ability he has picked. :Without Agility, Roland's primary deficiency is , and even heavy armor is not always enough to offset this. Therefore, Jewelry with bonuses is highly recommended. This will allow Roland to go up against some extremely-powerful opponents by the time he reaches a median Experience Level. :If this deficiency is covered, a Jewelry piece with a high bonus is recommended. Again, this will help Roland inflict heavy damage with his attack, allowing him to use offense as a good defense. Try to couple this with Movement Allowance bonuses (if they are not already given by Roland's armor piece), to help Roland utilize his First Strike to avoid unnecessary damage. :Once again, brute Attack Strength bonuses as well as bonuses may be handy early on, but will gradually become redundant. Both these properties improve very quickly through Roland's abilities anyway. :Any of the magic-related bonuses given by Jewelry can be completely ignored. Acquisition Roland the Paladin can be acquired in one of three different methods: * By hiring him as he comes to visit your Fortress town, * By casting the Summon Champion spell, * By Resurrecting him after he has been killed in battle. Hiring Roland Every once in a while, a Hero will arrive at your Fortress town to ask for employment. The frequency of this event depends on your current score, the number of Heroes already under your employ, and whether or not you have particular Retorts that affect this chance. In order for Roland to appear for hire in this way, you must meet several requirements: # You must have at least . # You must have at least Spellbook. # You must have sufficient in your treasury to hire Roland (more on this below). # Roland must not have already been killed in battle. Since the game randomly chooses which Hero appears during this event, there's no guarantee that Roland will ever appear. The chance, however, increases if the number of other valid Heroes dwindles (such as when most other Heroes have died in battle). The default Hiring Cost for Roland is . This is reduced to if your wizard has the Charismatic Retort. If you do not have this much at the start of a turn (after paying all Upkeep Costs), Roland will not appear for hire. In fact, if he is picked as the Hero who approaches you, and you lack the money to hire him, you are effectively forfeiting your chance to hire any Hero this turn. Also, Roland will only ever appear for hire if you possess at least 1 Spellbook from the . He is one of only 3 Heroes with such a requirement. He will be useful to any wizard though - even those who do not specialize in . After agreeing to hire Roland (you can always refuse), you may give him any name you choose - he will be known as " the Paladin". His overland unit will appear at your Fortress town or, if that town's garrison is full, next to your Fortress town. Summoning Roland As a Champion, Roland the Paladin can only be summoned using the Summon Champion spell. Once the spell is completed, the game chooses a random Champion to bring to your Fortress from a list of all available and valid Champions. Therefore, there is no guarantee that Roland will appear when this spell is cast, unless all other Champions are unavailable. Roland is only considered a valid summon if the casting wizard owns at least Spellbook. If the wizard does not possess such a spellbook, the Summon Champion spell will never select him - even if all other Heroes have been summoned already. A wizard who collects his/her first Spellbook during the game, as a reward for defeating a difficult Encounter, can now summon Roland as normal. Again, you get a chance to agree or refuse to hire Roland. If you agree, he will appear in your Fortress town and/or next to it. If Roland is hired through the use of Summon Champion, there is no need to pay any Hiring Cost. However, you may still need to pay an Upkeep Cost (see below). Resurrecting Roland For most wizards, losing Roland in battle removes him from the game permanently. He will never appear again. For -wielding wizards, however, who have access to the Resurrection spell, it is possible to bring Roland back to life after he has died. In this case, Roland returns to your Fortress town, with no Magical Items, but keeping all Experience he had prior to his death. You may repeatedly resurrect Roland each time he dies. Upkeep Costs Once Roland is in your employ, you must pay him an Upkeep Cost of at the start of each and every turn. Failure to pay this price due to lack of results in Roland leaving your employ. This is not permanent however: Roland may still be acquired in any of the above methods with no penalty. Note that if Roland picks the Noble Random Ability, he will demand no Upkeep Costs - and instead contribute to your treasury every turn! Alternate Names Other wizards can also have a Paladin, but they are different characters (what happens to one has no effect on the others), and go by different names, as follows: Category:Units Category:Heroes Category:Champions